The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) and Governor Bill Lee announced $101.6 million in new broadband funding. The funding is part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants the state has made.
The announcement said the funding will “provide last-mile broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 97,000 Tennesseans across 75 counties.”
Tennessee reported that it has now provided $683 million in broadband infrastructure funding.
$34.5 million of the funding is for last-mile grants that will be distributed to five broadband providers:
- Spectrum Southeast will receive $12.5 million to serve parts of Carroll, Meigs, Moore, and Roane counties
- United Communications will receive $8.1 million to serve parts of Marshall County
- Skybest Communications will receive $5.1 million to serve parts of Johnson County
- Ben Lomand Communications will receive $4.7 million to serve parts of Moore County
- Comcast will receive $4.2 million to serve parts of Roane County
“High-speed internet access is essential to all Tennesseans, and that’s why we continue making strategic investments in our state’s broadband infrastructure and digital opportunity programs to create a pathway to education and skills training,” said Governor Lee in the announcement.
The remainder of the Tennessee broadband grants made in this round are as follows:
- Digital Skills, Employment, and Workforce Development (DSEW) grants: $16.1 million to 29 organizations for “a variety of training and education programs aimed at enhancing digital skills and workforce development”
- Connected Community Facilities (CCF) grants: $49.4 million to 31 local governments to “enable workforce development, virtual health monitoring, virtual education, and broadband access”
- Broadband Ready Communities (BRC) grants: $1.6 million to 19 local governments to “support community-based digital skills training and deliver the technology necessary to equip communities with digital adoption resources”
Additional information about Tennessee broadband, including state funding resources, awards made, and state-specific coverage, can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
